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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26159800">It's the Mice</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot'>Onehelluvapilot</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr prompt fics [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Random &amp; Short, Short</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:08:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>295</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26159800</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onehelluvapilot/pseuds/Onehelluvapilot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by a tumblr ask. The castle has a mouse problem and Merlin uses them as an excuse for magic mishaps.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin &amp; Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr prompt fics [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's the Mice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Merlin,” Arthur said in that tone that meant the next words out of his mouth were going to be annoyance barely concealed with a genuine question. “What happened to my shirt?” He held up the article of clothing. It was missing a sleeve, three buttons, and the left half was slightly singed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mice!” the servant replied. It was the first thing that jumped into his head, and the castle </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> have a serious rodent problem.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The mice set my best shirt on fire?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They knocked a candle over onto it,” he explained. In reality, baby Aithusia had spit fire at it when Merlin had been trying to acquaint her with Arthur’s scent so she wouldn’t attack him when the dragonlord eventually introduced the two.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the sleeve?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mice like to use silk in the nests they make for their babies.” That was true, but he’d actually torn the sleeve trying to sneak into the castle and accidentally interrupting the infiltration of two spies sent by King Alined.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the missing buttons?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, that was you, sire. They popped off last time you wore the shirt,” Merlin said, ducking the coat hanger thrown at his head at the remark. He’d actually traded the ivory buttons to a sprite in return for information about what the Sidhe were up to. Sprites liked round things. He had been planning to replace the buttons with clasps, but then the shirt had been burned before he had the chance and it didn’t seem worth it anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If the rodents are such a problem, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mer</span>
  </em>
  <span>lin, maybe we should do something about them,” the prince suggested pointedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll find a cat,” the servant agreed. He figured a feline would be just as easy to blame magical mishaps on as the mice.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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